Quality of Immigration Consultants Varies Considerably, Be Cautious to Avoid Wasting Time and Money

Immigration has become a hot topic again. In addition to the “popular” destinations such as Australia, Canada, European countries and the U.S., some Southeast Asian countries have also gained popularity in recent years. Immigration process can be complicated and many consumers will consider engaging immigration consultants to assist in their applications. These immigration consulting companies typically provide “one-stop” services such as immigration consultation, preparation and submission of application documents, arranging lawyers, and scheduling interviews. However, the Consumer Council (or the “Council”) has received complaints from consumers on unsatisfactory service quality and incidents where time and money were wasted. The Council would like to draw consumers’ attention on areas to beware of through this article.

Conclusions

Consumers opt for services of an immigration consultant to, inter alia, save time and efforts on background research and application process, as well as to increase the success rate by leveraging its experience and professional knowledge. Unfortunately, the consumers in the cases above did not get what they had hoped for. The first 2 cases have shown that timelines can be critical, e.g., the deadlines for the submission of business proposal and obtaining of the labor certification, etc. The 2 companies mentioned had failed to complete the tasks within the specified timeframes and could not provide any concrete timelines. It was unfair to leave the affected clients waiting desperately and weathering the negative impacts on their applications. Immigration consulting companies should increase their service transparency. They should consider setting target dates for key milestone events in the contracts and stipulate the rights and responsibilities thereof. At the same time, the companies should liaise with their local partners (such as lawyers or agencies) proactively, and should not try to shirk their responsibilities citing “uncontrollable outside factors” as the excuse, and put the burden on the consumers.